EDITORIAL: Will We Ever Get A New Punisher Movie?

With Marvel gearing up for phase 2 of their cinematic universe and Thomas Jane releasing his Punisher fan film... is a Punisher movie far behind?

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By Woodinator - 9/13/2012

Will we ever see another Punisher film?

There are multiple reasons for this question...

1) Disney's ownership of Marvel: Would Disney sign off on a film based on such a strange mix? "A great bloody action film about a mass murdering Hero whose power is a huge arsenal of guns! …brought to you by Disney :)"
2)Thomas Jane who has been a fan favorite for the role of Frank Castle released his fan film; "Dirty Laundry". Along with the reveal of this amazing short film we got this quote from Jane: "My interest has always been based more in reality than in superhero fiction…The strengths of ‘The Punisher’ that I did lie in the reality that we were able to bring to the character, and the weaknesses of ‘The Punisher’ I did were all based on people trying to make this a ‘comic book movie’—with funny characters and goofball s–t that has no place in a ‘Punisher’ film."
While I LOVE Thomas Jane's Punisher it's obvious that he wants an unconnected film from the rest of the cinematic universe... This leads us to hindrance #3.
3) MARVEL has worked incredibly hard to create a unified cinematic universe that all connect to one another. Even if they were willing to look outside of their established universe... they are spending every available resource and talent making the MCU the best it can be, therefore any side project would get minimal attention and resources and that would lead us to yet another half@$$ Punisher film.
Can they overcome these hindrances?

1) DISNEY – This is not as BIG of a hindrance as you might think. Disney owns several movie companies and they have no problem producer hard R rated films (Miramax for instance). With the right script and the right pitch that would convince the powers that be at Disney that it would be profitable… not just the film but the marketing and branding then they would be all over it.

2) Thomas Jane IS MY PICK for Frank Castle… however I believe that we will have to pass Jane by for this role. The only way to get The Punisher made correctly and with the budget it needs we will have to see him join the MCU (more on that in point #3). Even if Jane was willing to go this route I’m not sure that I want him in a “Comic Book Universe” when he has obvious distain for “trying to make this a ‘comic book movie”.

3) Now, here’s the BIG one. How does Frank Castle fit into this huge MCU? How can one guy with a gun make a dent on this huge and (thanks to phase two) cosmic Cinematic Universe? Easy. There has been one man that has truly connected the MCU from the beginning… Ironically enough this guy also has a huge past with our favorite anti hero; Frank Castle.

Nick Fury

Here are the top 5 ways that this needs to playout to work in the Marvel MCU:

1)Frank Castle and Nick Fury both served together in the military. They have a rich history that can be mapped out throughout the MCU via flashbacks.

2) To stay in the spirit of the MCU tie-ins we need an after credit scene. The scene should layout like this:

They walk into the shield conference room only to see (whatever carnage from the end of the Punisher film that occurs).

MH: “I’ve already run the intel sir. His name is…”

NF: “Frank Castle, I know what his name is. What the coverage on this?”

MH: “By now sir? Every new station in the country.”

NF: “It never happened.”

MH: “I’m sorry sir?”

NF: “Miss Hill, it never happened. I don’t care if you have to send teams of men into every newstation and hold the broadcasters at gun point! It NEVER happened. Are we clear?”

MH: “Yes Sir.”

(Fade to Black)

3) We NEED a Nick Fury (or at least a S.H.I.E.L.D.) Movie to make all of this fit. We need to show the darker “black ops” side of Nick Fury. We saw a little taste of that when we see that Fury was hiding the weaponization of some “other worldly” elements from the Avengers. However, for his relationship to work we need to see a Fury that is willing to do whatever he has to to keep the world safe.

4) By the end of the second film we need to see Castle captured by S.H.I.E.L.D.
This allows an opportunity to flesh out the reason Fury blinded the world to Frank’s actions.
That reason of course will be Fury’s desire to utilize Frank’s “talents” when necessary.
Frank of course will refuse.

5) Frank’s distaste for Super Powered individuals must shine through if he is to join a blended universe. Whether this is displayed in actual run ins with other heroes or something as simple as Frank’s dialogue while watching the news… It just HAS to be there!

I know most fans are looking for a Garth Ennis inspired gritty Marvel MAX version of Frank’s story but honestly there is no shortage of great storylines to pull from Frank Castle’s rich history.

After Phase 2 how about we go from the cosmos to the streets Marvel? How about some cinematic love for the likes of Daredevil, Fury, Luke Cage and of course The Punisher!

Marvel Knights run with Ennis was effing classic, but @yossarian, you brought back some good memories with that cover

@marvel72ennis does a great job in the max series, a little less dark humor, but still really top notch stuff.

is it impossible to think that the marvel movie universe will operate like the marvel universe? there can be stories dealing with threats on a cosmic level and stories dealing with threats on a more local level. why can't we have a punisher series at a street level and simply mention the existence of other characters in dialogue? hell, they mentioned doc strange in spider-man 2 and that was awesome gave you an idea of being apart of an expanded universe.

Punisher you won't see for a while considering how poorly Punisher: War Zone did at the box office. Likely, Marvel will open up the street level heroes with Daredevil, and then lead in to Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Blade, Punisher and possibly Ghost Rider (if they get the rights back from Sony), but that won't be for a bit.

You know, I'm sorry if this pisses off fans of the character, but what the hell is so freaking amazing about the Punisher? Is it because he's such a dark foil for other characters because of his willingness to force someone head-first through a woodchipper?

Yeah, I had some fun playing the 2005 game, but I just don't get the appeal.

He's an urban Max Rockatansky without the heroism, and he's getting a prequel/reboot next year with Tom Hardy in charge, so what's the point of the Punisher?

@tainted, i think its because he is everything you mentioned but marvels take at him, which makes people accept him more than they would mad max because he is already in the realm of all there fav comic characters. He's a good guy yet he does what most characters dont do, hence the wood chipper(that game was great) In my eyes its more of the action fans that lean towards him more so than your average comic fan.

we get a new punisher movie every couple of months. the next one is called Taken 2. punisher is as cliche as they come. why do i need to see this story YET AGAIN? is it different because this time he has a skull on his shirt?

I think Disney could do this very well. All of their villains in other films were actually very terrible people, morally. Imagine if Disney were to make one film were they go all dark and bloody. I think they've secretly wanted to do that for a while now...

GREAT article! I totally agree with you on the idea that phase 3 should take it to the streets. Or more like the dark and gritty areas of the marvel cinematic world. Despite the already established universe from the avengers: light-hearted, friendly to all ages world. The real world is really a mixture of light and dark. I feel that characters like Daredevil, Punisher, Luke Cage, etc. can show the dark, small, suffering parts of the MCU that the avengers aren't able to save which is why we have characters like these to clean up those areas. The Avengers can't protect everyone in America all by themselves. I wanna see that in phase 3.

my recommendations for a punisher film series set in the marvel cinematic universe:

thomas jane should reprise his role as the punisher. i believe that these films can work on a PG-13 level that's really close to an R rating(like the hulk vs wolverine animated short film), that way teens 13 and up can see it and don't have to wait until they are 16 or 17. this can help the films be more successful, while still not being on the same family-friendly level as most other marvel films. on the home video releases though, there should be an included hardcore R-rated cut that's more violent. these films should be released under mirimax.

the 1st film should be the origin. the film should be 144 minutes long. the first 80 minutes of the film should involve the following: frank castle, his wife, and their son, are on a picnic, where they witness a mob killing and end up getting gunned down by the mob, with frank as the only survivor of the 3. frank goes into hiding, planning on avenging his family by waging war against criminals, starting with the mob family that killed his wife and son: the saints. frank(under the name "john smith") moves into an apartment building, where a woman named joan, mr. bumpo, and spacker dave live. frank comes into contact with and gains an ally in detective soap, who gives him weapons. frank becomes the punisher and takes down a drug ring and a prostitution ring, then kills howard saint's son. howard saint tracks frank to his apartment and has it blown up. the rest of the apartment building remains intact and there are no casualties, but frank leaves and goes into hiding. frank meets david linus lieberman(aka microchip), who assists him in finding a new base and weapons, and assists him in managing and laundering the money he gets from the criminals he takes out. frank comes up with a plan to take down the saints once-and-for-all. the film's final battle should include the 2004 punisher film theme, which should then be used in the end credits. the film should end with microchip telling frank his plans for "the battle van" and frank then narrating the same speech from the end of the 2004 film. the end credit scene should be the following: mariah hill informs nick fury about the massacre of the saints by frank castle, which is on every news channel in the country. fury tells hill to make sure that "it didn't happen"!

in the 2nd film(taking place 3 months after the last film), frank starts using the battle van, frank takes out the gnucci crime family, and the villains are billy russo(who becomes "jigsaw" after an encounter with the punisher) and bushwacker.

in the 3rd film, frank goes to grand nixon island to stop general kreigkopf and comes across nick fury. frank and fury team up against kreigkopf. in the film, the russian is introduced.

The Punisher would work best as a TV series because his escapades are episodic. It's why shows like Dexter and Breaking Bad work well in that format but would do poorly in film. We'd rather see a series on Showtime or Netflix than risk another box office disaster.

I am still holding out for Daredevil and Punisher Cameo's in the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show. I think maybe they might already have a Luke Cage in J August Richards (Gunn from Angel. Although he's a little scrawny for the role, IMDB doesn't indicate who he is. We just know he just jumps out of windows unscathed and he's strong. I may be on to something here.

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